California Is Poised To Legalize Marijuana In 2016

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 19: Dave Warden, a bud tender at Private Organic Therapy (P.O.T.), a non-profit co-operative medical marijuana dispensary, displays various types of marijuana available to patients on October 19, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Attorney General Eric Holder announced new guidelines today for federal prosecutors in states where the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes is allowed under state law. Federal prosecutors will no longer trump the state with raids on the southern California dispensaries as they had been doing, but Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley recently began a crackdown campaign that will include raids against the facilities. Cooley maintains that virtually all marijuana dispensaries are in violation of the law because they profit from their product. The city of LA has been slow to come to agreement on how to regulate its 800 to 1,000 dispensaries. Californians voted to allow sick people with referrals from doctors to consume cannabis with the passage of state ballot Proposition 215 in 1996 and a total of 14 states now allow the medicinal use of marijuana. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of Californians support legalizing, regulating and taxing recreational marijuana in the state, according to a Tulchin Research poll.

The figure, based on responses of 1,200 likely 2016 voters surveyed during the last two weeks, shows a "solid majority" back proposals to legalize adult recreational marijuana, the San Francisco-based pollster said. The poll found 32 percent oppose legalization and 3 percent were undecided.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and American Civil Liberties Union representatives released the poll results during a news conference Thursday and announced the launch of a two-year research effort focused on proposals to legalize recreational marijuana. Newsom will chair a panel of 16 experts, including professors, medical professionals and policy researchers, who will study legal and policy issues involved in adult recreational marijuana.

"This is about real people," Newsom said to The Huffington Post. "Communities are devastated because of this abject thing called the drug war. Forget the politics. This is the right thing to do.

"But we need to answer the tough questions before we put it on the ballot," Newsom said. "I want the research in order to be more convincing to others."

Not everyone is willing to wait until 2016. Two groups have filed proposals to put recreational pot initiatives on California's 2014 ballot.

Both proposals -- the California Cannabis Hemp Initiative and the Marijuana Control, Legalization and Revenue Act -- would regulate and tax marijuana similar to alcohol. And both face an uphill battle in gathering enough funds and volunteers to collect the 504,000 signatures in 150 days needed to make it onto the ballot. The organizers behind California Cannabis Hemp Initiative are collecting signatures, and backers of Marijuana Control, Legalization and Revenue Act are awaiting approval from the state to begin collecting signatures.

Other marijuana advocacy groups -- including Newsom's panel -- are working toward a California voter initiative for 2016.

"Voter turnout tends to be much higher in presidential election years," Mason Tvert, communications director of the Marijuana Policy Project, told HuffPost. "We believe a 2016 initiative will best demonstrate just how much support there is for ending marijuana prohibition in California."

The Drug Policy Alliance echoed this sentiment, saying more education is needed to rally voter support.

"The support for marijuana legalization in California is there," Amanda Reiman, policy manager of the Drug Policy Alliance, told HuffPost. "It just may not be there strongly enough or from the right populations to claim victory in 2014."

Drug Policy Alliance is co-hosting a symposium on legalization in California with the California Society of Addiction Medicine in Denver next week. Reiman said that working with the California Society of Addiction Medicine is part of an effort to win support from California's medical community, which she said is essential to persuade the public. Drug Policy Alliance also is working with environmental and agriculture groups, since much of California marijuana cultivation is outdoors, particularly in the northern counties of Humboldt, Mendocino and Ukiah.

California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana when voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996. Since then, the medical cannabis industry has flourished, generating upwards of $100 million in annual tax revenue.

"This is not a matter of 2014 or bust, or 2016 or bust," Reiman said. "Legalization of marijuana in California is going to happen."

The government would save an estimated $13.7 billion on prohibition enforcement costs and tax revenue by legalizing marijuana, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/economists-marijuana-legalization_n_1431840" target="_hplink">according to a paper endorsed by 300 economists</a>.